


Where There's Smoke (There is Someone to Put Out The Flame)

by Rohirrim_Writer



Series: And They Were Quarantined [2]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, C-Virus, Depression, F/M, and the were quarantined
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24011743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rohirrim_Writer/pseuds/Rohirrim_Writer
Summary: After 87 days almost entirely alone Anna begins to lose the fight to stay afloat.There's a lifeline in every storm and Anna has found hers.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Series: And They Were Quarantined [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731754
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Where There's Smoke (There is Someone to Put Out The Flame)

**Author's Note:**

> This story pretty vividly describes major depressive disorder and anxiety. I do not wish to trigger anyone, if you need to skip reading this work of fiction, I completely understand. Please prioritize your mental health during this crisis and always.

“Oh, thank god you picked up! I was so worried.” Kristoff’s voice felt too loud in the quiet room. There was something about the dark that made quiet seem, stronger somehow, almost tangible. She felt like if she reached out she could take a handful of it and watch it glide through her fingers. She felt like the darkness inside of her could be touched too, like maybe she could reach in and scoop it out like seeds out of a melon. 

“Anna?” The relief in his voice gave way into panic. It felt dirty, like she contaminated him, like the darkness seeped through the phone and out the other end, like she was  _ poisonous _ . The thought of her beautiful, vibrant Kristoff tainted by her, brought a wave of sadness of its own.

“I’m here,” was all she managed. It was muffled by the sheets and the mountain of blankets she’d dragged onto her bed. Her entire linen closet was in use, sheets covered every window over the top of sheer curtains, and the remainder tossed over all the mirrors. 

She lived in a padded cell of her own making. 

“You okay?” His tone melted into one of concern. It chipped away at the walls Anna built to keep the sadness at bay. Slowly, it began to leak out. The tears on her pillow let her in on it more than anything. 

“No.” She didn’t recognize the choked sound that left her lips. She didn’t recognize  _ herself _ these days...or the world outside. 

“Baby can you talk to me?” She  _ wanted  _ to. The words were all there inside her. She felt them, storming inside her. They just wouldn’t come out. 

“No.” Her mouth was dry. So, so dry. 

“Okay, I’m just going to ask a few questions and you just answer the best you can.” She felt the tears again. His voice was a remedy and an ailment. It made her tears burn hotter.

“Are you hurt?” Some part of her knew what he was doing, but the other really wasn’t so sure. This ache felt like a hurt. 

“No.” She whispered. She heard him whisper, “thank god”. 

“Are you in a safe place.” It didn’t feel like it. Not when the walls closed in on her. Not when it felt like there wasn’t enough air to breath. 

“Yes.” She whispered. 

“Are you going to hurt yourself?” He seemed afraid of her answer and that hurt the most. 

“...No.” She didn’t want to, but she can’t bring herself to eat and when she did it tasted like ash in her mouth. Did giving up count as hurting yourself? It felt like it did.

Sometimes sadness was like smoke in a burning building under the cover of darkness. It slowly crept up on her while she slept, seeping under the doors and through vents until by the time the heat woke her, it was too late to escape. She choked on it. 

“Anna I’m going to do a video call. Can you answer that for me?” She desperately wanted to see his face, but she didn’t want him to see  _ her _ like this, she hadn’t showered in...two days? She thought it’d been two days at least. 

“Baby?” She hadn’t realized he’d stopped talking. She was staring at the same spot on the wall again. 

“Yes.” She didn’t even have to wait 3 seconds before the request came through. She answered it, but the room was too dark for him to see her clearly. 

“Hey baby.” It was a painfully familiar sound and Anna yearned for the man it belonged to.

“How long have you been in bed?” He talked like this was an old conversation. Like the ones they usually talked had, like the day before and the day before that and the day before that and the day before that-

“I don’t know.” She was starting to remember how to use her voice again. 

“Do you know when the last time you ate was?” He moved around as he spoke, she could see his apartment walls going by in the background. 

“No.” She thinks maybe it was yesterday afternoon.

“Do you remember what it was?” She tried to remember anything, a taste, a texture, a smell. She only remembered leaving the bread bag open on the counter. 

“A slice of bread.” Kristoff stopped what he was doing to look up at her. It was unlike her not to enjoy eating, they’d been trying recipes out together over the last couple of weeks. 

“Anna, baby, I’m worried about you.” She wanted to kiss the concern from his face, tell him everything would be okay, but she can’t. Not just because he wasn’t physically there for her to do so. 

“Me too.” She whispered. 

“Anna I think I should come over there.” It made her angry and sad all at once. 

“You can’t.” The lump in her throat had dropped into her chest and it sat there like a boulder. She can’t breath under it. 

“We’ve been in self-isolation for 23 days with no symptoms. Why don’t I come over there?” She opened her mouth to say no. To say she’d  _ be  _ okay and that plenty of other people had no choice, she could do this too. She could be alone. 

“I don’t want to be alone.” She hardly recognized her own voice.

“I know, you don’t have to, I’m on my way. Alright?” He ran a hand anxiously through his hair that’d grown to new lengths with no one to cut it and only Anna to see. If he came she’d be able to touch it. She could even cut it if he wanted her to. She could touch another person.

“Okay.” She felt tired all of a sudden and she struggled to keep her eyes on the screen. 

“Let me get Marshmallow and our stuff together and we’ll be right over.” He looked around frantically as if unable to decide what to do first. Or more likely in Kristoff’s case, making a mental list of everything he needed so he wouldn’t be in chaos like she tended to be with these things. 

“I’m going to stay on the phone while we get ready.” She hummed in response, blinking slowly, as she watched him pacing around his bedroom. 

“What are you grabbing?” She couldn’t see anything but the top of his head. 

“My clothes.” He didn’t put his phone down, moving around one handed instead. 

“What’s that.” He’d moved on from the bedroom and bathroom to the living room. 

“My Switch.” She wondered why he needed all of this stuff. 

“I already have canned tomatoes.” Maybe he was planning on making her dinner, but he seemed to be grabbing an awful lot of food. 

“Kristoff that’s just moving in.” He put Marshmallow’s bed in the back of the truck. 

“Well your apartment is bigger than mine.” He grinned through the phone. She didn’t ask if he meant it.

“Are you almost here?” She asked after the silence had stretched on, filled only by the sound of the engine, and a view filled only by the roof of his truck and the occasional shot of Marshmallow’s snout. 

“I’m at your cross streets.” He reassured her. 

“Alright I’m out front. Can you come unlock your door for me?” The sound of him changing gears and the engine coming to a stop was followed by him finally picking back up the phone. 

She rolled out of her covers and tested her weight on her legs. She felt a little unsteady, and when she stood, she felt a bit dizzy. She walked slowly to the door, dragging her blanket on the floor as she went. 

For a brief moment, she considered leaving the door locked. She couldn’t explain the fear that went through her at the thought of opening it. There was no  _ logic  _ to it. She wanted what was on the other side. She wanted it badly enough to override any fear and so she opened the door. 

There, getting Marshmallow hooked up to his leash and out of the back seat, was Kristoff. She clicked off her phone now that she had the real thing.

It’d been 87 days since she’d last seen him in person. 

He left the car door open as he came up the front steps. He stopped six feet from her on the small front patio, as if to give her a chance to change her mind. He was waiting for something that was never going to happen. 

“Hi.” She didn’t know what to say. He smiled at her, a brilliant, shy thing, and took another step forward. 

“Hey baby.” She fell into tears then. He came forward to catch her, holding her against him like a lifeline in a storm. 

Anna sat on the couch with Marshmallow while Kristoff moved his stuff in, even though it’d only come from his house, he disinfected everything he could. Next he moved to throw the sheets on her bed in the wash, and put on a pair that had previously been covering the windows. He didn’t say anything about it, as he went around, setting the apartment to rights. 

Sure enough, he brought all the food from his kitchen, even the condiments, which he pulled from an icebox. It looked an awful lot like moving in. When that was done, he got started making her favorite Monte Cristo Sandwich. He whistled while he moved around her kitchen like it was the most natural thing in the world, like it was  _ their  _ kitchen. 

When it was done he set their plate, just one for the both of them, on the coffee table and gathered her up into his arms. 

“Anna can I kiss you?” It would be their first kiss, here on her couch, with her greasy hair, and unbrushed teeth. She felt new tears well up in her eyes that this too, she has ruined. 

But she wanted it, so very, very much. 

“Yes, Kristoff, please.” And he did. 

He kissed her like he was coming home from a long journey, tender and meaningful, as if each pass of his lips had been carefully considered. He kissed her like he loved her-and she didn’t feel like she’d ruined anything at all.. 

“I love you.” He pulled away to grin at her. 

“Now let’s eat before it gets cold. He kept her in his lap, holding the plate for her to pick up her sandwich triangles off of, before she had a chance to answer. She was halfway through her portion when she realized what he’d done. 

“I love you too.” She said urgently, through a bite of sandwich, mouth full. 

“Thanks.” Kristoff brushed a strand of hair that had fallen in her face away. She hadn’t expected that to be the perfect answer. 

After they ate, Anna would have liked to have said that she got up and took a shower and drank a glass of water and everything was fine, but Kristoff had to help her strip off her clothes. He had to carry her inside like a child. He had to set her down in the tub basin to clean her back, and her front, and her arms, and her legs, and her hair. She sobbed the whole time. 

She managed to brush her teeth by herself, sat on the toilet wrapped in her damp towel. He carried her to bed naked and they slept, skin to skin, stealing each other’s breaths. And the gentle rocking of his chest carried her to sleep. 

  
  



End file.
